Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Aviatic quarantine by international and regional airlines

An aviatic quarantine has almost isolated the ebola-stricken countries of
Sierra Leone and Liberia. Only two airlines (SN Brussels and Royal Air Maroc) are
flying in and out Liberia and, one to and from Sierra Leone (Royal Air Maroc).
Guinea is still served by at least four airlines although Emirates stopped its
operations to Conakry in early August cutting off a direct route to the Middle
East and Asia.

For all its
self-righteous rhetoric the international community has not only failed to
deliver adequate aid and support but also demonstrated that in times of crises,
it is each nation state for its own. Thousands succumb to ebola while exposing
the poor medical and general infrastructure of the said countries; effective
support is barely trickling in. The clearest action since the crisis reached
horrifying peaks, unfortunately, has been ostracism of the very countries
suffering from the epidemic by cutting off air routes.

The Togo-based Asky and the Nigerian Arik Air were the first airlines to
suspend flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone end of July although they continued
flights to Guinea. Patrick Sawyer, a US
citizen who worked for Liberia’s Ministry of Finance, had traveled to Nigeria
via Asky to attend a conference and shortly afterwards died in Lagos. Asky was
suspended by Nigeria's civil aviation authorities for bringing the first Ebola
case to Lagos. Nigeria has registered 8 deaths from ebola to date while none
have surfaced in Togo.

On 2 August, Emirates became
the first major international airline to stop flying over ebola concerns: it
suspended its regular operations to Guinea.

British Airways, which
flies to Liberia and Sierra Leone, followed the action a few days later, on 5
August, by first suspending operations until 31 August but then extended the
suspension until end of 2014. The Foreign and Commonwealth Offices announced
BA’s decision.

Air France was forced to
halt its operations to Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, after staff unions
signed a petition to stop flights and on the French Government’s request to the
ebola-affected region although flights continued to Guinea and Nigeria. The
airline made its decision end of August.

Kenya Airways suspended its
flights to Monrovia, Liberia’s capital and Freetown at the end of July but in
encouragingly has announced that flights to Monrovia will resume on the 24th
of October. One can only hope that the airline will
indeed stick to this plan.

Air Ivoire also announced
it would resume flights around the same time although a confirmed purchase
ticket for the author for the 16th from Accra to Monrovia was cancelled
and is going to be refunded.

On 11 August, Ivory Coast
banned all carriers from carrying passengers from the ebola-affected countries.
Ivory Coast also proceeded to close its land borders with Guinea and Liberia. Seaports
were closed off to vessels from the three countries but the restrictions were
lifted; vessels originating from the ebola-afflicted countries must wait for 21
days before they can call at Abidjan Port.

On 10 August,
Nigeria’s civil aviation authority suspended Gambia Bird’s flights into Nigeria
citing its safety and precautionary measures against ebola as unsatisfactory. Mid
August, Gambia Bird suspended its operations to Monrovia and Freetown, firstly
until the 31st and later until 28 September. The latest news is,
however, that Gambia Bird will start bi-weekly flights from Gatwick Airport in
the UK to Freetown on 17 October. Flights
to Monrovia are still suspended.

The Gambia has banned
travelers from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. No ebola case has
surfaced in Gambia.

Patrick Sawyer’s
death prompted fears of the spread of the virus by air passengers and
precipitated restrictive measures by governments and airlines in the region and
internationally. Each government, though, has enacted different actions to make
it feel safer. For instance, some flying routes to Guinea are still open but
scrapped by others. Decisions have been taken individually although the
official statements indicate that they are consulting WHO and reviewing the
situation. But the WHO as well as IATA have advised that while ebola is
contagious, it is not airborne and it is improbable that a person would contract
it while flying. Moreover, it is unlikely that someone sick from the disease
would ever get on a plane. It is difficult to understand the logic of this aviatic
quarantine except that it is based on fear.

More recently, the
first ebola case in the US has prompted fear-provoking headlines such as “Ebola
in America” implying that ebola will ravage the United States of America much
the same way it has devastated the impoverished countries of post-conflict
Liberia and Sierra Leone.One can only
hope that this will not trigger further actions to isolate Liberia, Sierra
Leone and Guinea and, consolidate the erroneous idea that suspension of flights
will help solve the problem and continue to delay real action.

Ivory Coast has
successfully managed to prevent a single ebola case although it shares a porous
border with its neighbours, Guinea and Sierra Leone. It has indeed enacted
border closures and flight restrictions too but its prevention efforts started
in March which more than anything else helped to keep IvoryCoast ebola free.

A well coordinated effort
to standardise screening measures at airports, border points and sea ports
together with SOPs on flights would be preferred than the complete suspension
of flights. But it seems neither regional nor
international back up plans exist to manage the nightmarish scenario that we
are now witnessing in West Africa, and instead every country has acted on its
own. The cancellation of flights regionally and internationally demonstrates
the shocking lack of an international system to deal with the situation nor is
the system catching up.

So in lieu of that, we turn to ideas of
solidarity and goodwill. These are also absent.African solidarity is but a hollow idea as we see neighbours closing
their doors to the plight and suffering of their poorer brothers and sisters.
Neither ECOWAS nor the AU have effectively responded with constructive
solutions to help deal with this transnational crisis instead of ostracising
the ebola-affected countries. The arrival of more than 150 Cuban doctors in
Sierra Leone is instead inspiring and uplifting, I am sure, to Sierra Leoneons,
and we wish for many more similar concrete measures are taken. The substantial
military and medical assistance plan outlined by Obama is yet to take off in
Liberia.That West Africans have to wait for the good
will of their neighours and richer countries and societies is a pity. Over the
years, billions of dollars of aid has poured into this part of Africa in their
name to eradicate poverty, to fight malaria or, my favourite, to build peace.
Careers in poverty and development have been made and lauded. Even now, the
suffering of West Africans by a viral hemorrhagic fever is feeding an outsider
narrative of Africa. International media is thriving on the gruesome details of
this deadly disease. Sound bites and killer deadlines are piling up on TV
channels, photos, blogs and websites.

Ebola is ravaging the
populations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, three
of the poorest countries in the world with barely-functioning and
barely-equipped healthcare systems. This is the time for solidarity, not
turning away. How does the international community expect international support
to come to Liberia if there is no way to get there? MSF says its doctors need
to be rotated every four weeks. With limited flight options, how does this
situation help? With concrete support barely trickling in at snail-speed, this
aviatic quarantine is just an insult on injury. Most people succumbing to this
disease are poor folks, not the type to get on an intercontinental flight. But
perhaps we have answered our own question, the international community is going
to do very little to help and it is simply not a pressing priority, the way,
for example, defeating ISIS is.

The aviatic quarantine
needs to be lifted. Airlines and governments must work together to standardise
measures. If this is not done fast enough and continues to linger, it will be a
shameful episode in history where entire countries were isolated as they fought
with one of the deadliest diseases in modern history.

Author:

I am a Pakistani woman living and
working in Liberia since 2003, firstly in the aid industry and as an IT company
owner/manager since the last five years. I studied Violence, Conflict and
Development at SOAS at a post grad level.

I've been in Pakistan for a few
months on holiday but postponed my return when the ebola crisis seemed to
peak in July when the epidemic hit Monrovia. Because I have an
infant, I was encouraged by friends to hold off my return.

With the crisis not abating but also
the knowledge that so far, only poorest folks are succumbing to the disease I
am ready to go back after making a calculated decision along with
my husband who also works in the same company as me. But with the aviatic
quarantine, travel to and from Liberia has become an expensive
nightmare. I normally travel to Pakistan via Accra taking the Emirates
flight to Islamabad with a brief stop over in Dubai.

As already mentioned in the article,
Air Ivoire announced it had re-started its operations to Monrovia and a ticket
was purchased from Accra to Monrovia for the 16th of October but a
few days later, that flight was cancelled and will apparently be refunded. Now,
I might depend on the Kenya Airways flight on the 24th but after Air
Ivoire’s cancellation, it is uncertain whether Kenya Airways will indeed resume
operations. I will have to change my booking with Emirates, pay a date change
fee, and wait for the 24th. Failing that, I would have to consider
re-routing my ticket altogether via Royal Air Maroc or SN Brussels, which would
mean dishing out more cash.

NOTE: I wrote this last year while I was caught out during the ebola crisis, while in Pakistan. I tried to get it published but no luck. I decided to at least publish it on my blog today!

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About Me

I am a Pakistani woman living and working in Liberia, West Africa since 2003, initially as part of the aid industry but later on as an entrepreneur. I have been running an IT company since 2009. I love working for myself, bossing people around, entertaining, cooking, watching movies, reading and writing.